Tow-Part Journeys

        I have posted before that the journey of following Christ can be considered to be a two-part one, with the point of division being the point at which we surrender to God. The first part may be labeled "Struggling mostly on you own" and the second part "God doing all the work," leading to union with the Lord. As for the usually much shorter journey between hearing God's call and becoming a follower, it also has two parts ~ they are marked by the point at which we repent our sins before God.  

How God Calls

        Let's look at the spectrum of love. At one end, we have the love of God for us, a pure love as demonstrated by Christ, also known as agape. At the other end, we have love for sex, money, or other material things just to satisfy our selfish desires (it's unfortunate that the word "love" is used here to mean basically "craving"). Close to the love of God is the natural love of parents for their children. Of course, it's possible that the love is a mixture of the pure and the impure. For example, a man and a woman can love each other so much that they are willing to die for each other. What I want to concentrate upon is God's pure love. At the beginning, being human we are not really aware of the existence of such great love. One day we hear the gospel and discover that this love has always been there and that it has the power to change our lives ~ God is now calling.  

Consider Loving These Neighbors

        I believe that no matter how bad a person we are, most of us will unhesitatingly help someone in immediate danger ~ that's the good part in us. If you believe in God, do you realize that a vast numbers of people are in danger of losing their souls at any moment? Shouldn't we do something about it? The least we could do is to be holy ourselves and pray for them. It's easy to be unaware of this reality, but it's utterly urgent. Do something for them ~ it's loving your neighbor, which is the same as loving God.

God Made Me Somebody

        While watching Life on the Rock on EWTN, the Holy Spirit just brought to my mind vividly what I already knew, that I had been called by God to love him, that this was a special grace, that with all the angles and saints, I now belong to his family and have Jesus as my brother, and that there is nothing more I would ever need, and that I am not a nobody anymore in existence. The Lord surely ends my day on a joyful note.    

Suffering the Right Way

        Early all morning since I woke up before 5 a.m., I really felt the presence of the Lord within me. Then I should be happy ~ right? It turned out that I felt great sorrow because I sensed the coming of increasing persecution of our Church. Most of the world, including sadly, much of the Christian population, just does not care or care enough about the moral teachings the Church. I did ask the Lord why it's so. I saw that as disciples of Christ, suffering along with him is unavoidable. I must trust that the Lord knows what he is doing. Then I went to Mass and received him in the Holy Eucharist and he made me see that the joy he had given us outweighs all sorrows. Hence we are to suffer gladly, not in sadness. He restored me. 

Looking at Oneself

        We probably see ourselves daily in the mirror every morning after we get up and before we go to bed. Next time take a good look at your mirror image, but see it as another person. In the questions that follow, I assume that the subject is a male for simplicity, but feel free to change him to a female as the case may be. 

        "How does he look to you? How do you feel about him? What do you think of him? How is he living his life? How is he coping with it? Is he happy inside? If not, why not? Do you admire or feel sorry for him? Is he happy to continue the way he's been? Is anything missing in his life? Does he need changes in his life? How well does he know God? Should he love God even more? What would be your best advice for him?" I think that this is a good way to look at oneself. Hopefully, this examination will bring you closer to God.  

Clear-Cut Assignments

        Jesus said (to the Pharisees and Herodians), "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." He said (to a would-be follower), "Let the dead bury the dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." In a similar way, I could hear Jesus telling us: "Leave the things of the world to the world and remain in union with me where you belong." 

The Not Quite Unobtrusive I

        It is so easy to want to do what I like to do or to make things happen the way I like to see happen and forget all about giving God glory. The "I" looming large in front of us, though not in any obtrusive way, still shows the lack of perfect humility. It points to the need to consult the Lord always before proceeding. 

Dealing with Division

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus said to his disciples, "Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three..." As long as sin exists on earth, being his disciples will unavoidably receive skepticism, criticism, misunderstanding, ridicule, or even persecution from others ~ sin and God just do not mix. All you need to do is look at the Lord himself. If he could not even escape harm from division, who are we to run away from it? He was not even honored in his hometown, as we sometimes are not understood among our own kin.  As long as we remain in union with the Lord, we need not let division disturb our peace, as the cause of it is sin, not us.

God Amazing

        Here's a link that shows how talented God can make us: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20036511. After watching this 7-year-old, also watch the video up next about the 9-year-old who is an amazing painter. If God can create such prodigies, imagine how infinitely amazing God himself must be!